Mastodon have returned with a new single, "Your Ghost Again", paying tribute to the Grammy-winning Atlanta heavy metal band's late founding guitarist/vocalist Brent Hinds.
The song, produced by Patrik Berger and Converge guitarist Kurt Ballou, was released via Loma Vista Recordings.
"Your Ghost Again" marks the first piece of music by Mastodon after the death of Hinds and drummer Brann Dailor's mother, Michele Jeanne Lawrence.
Hinds died aged 51 in a traffic collision while riding a motorcycle on August 20, 2025. Michele Lawrence passed away on February 12, 2025.
"For me, 'Your Ghost Again' is about when you lose somebody that's close to you that you existed with for most of your life—or your whole life," Dailor says. "It's those moments when you're in those familiar places that you've always been with that person, and then, after they're gone, you see them out of the corner of your eye, and it makes you sad because they're not there. When we were in the studio recording, I kept seeing Brent. I'd see him on my right holding the guitar because that's where he'd usually be. It's the same with my mom: I keep seeing her. And you get a little jolt of excitement because you think you're actually seeing them, but then you remember they're not here and it takes you down a notch. So, it's these big relationships for me that became the subject matter of the song. I was just singing about what I was seeing, and I was seeing ghosts."
Mastodon bassist/vocalist Troy Sanders says, "My portion of the song, lyrically, is all about Brent, and for Brent. The bridge lyrics are two lines of pure gratitude towards Brent."
Guitarist Bill Kelliher added, "We wanted to pick a song that sounds like Mastodon, and that has all the things in there, because it's the first impression of what people are gonna hear. It speaks about things that have just happened and people passing. I could go deep but I don't want to because a lot of that shit's personal."
Mastodon announced Hinds' departure from the band by mutual decision in March last year. However, shortly before his death, Hinds publicly disputed this by saying that he had been "kicked out" of the band.
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